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The Two Births of Kim Jong Il: Myth vs Fact

Kim Jong Il is a mysterious dictator. He's alleged to have uttered only one sentence in public, and keeps his hermit kingdom under a veil of...

By James Sumner,
James Sumner
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Sublime Frequencies,
Sublime Frequencies
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Morgan Currie,
Morgan Currie
My research broadly probes the way cultural, political, and economic factors interact with the design and development of information infrastructures. My recent research examines the production and circulation of government data, and how these datasets interact with social, political, and economic systems. I start with these data infrastructures’ historical beginnings and follow them through their standardization in policy, their circulation in technical systems, and their reuse by the public. The topic of emerging data infrastructures grows increasingly important as these systems condition the possibility for new economies, forms of governance, civic behavior, and political struggle.\r\n\r\nI received my Ph.D. from the Department of Information Studies at UCLA in 2016, and my MLIS from the same department in 2014. I have a Masters in New Media from the University of Amsterdam (2011). I am currently a lecturer in the School of Media, Culture, and Design at Woodbury University.\r\n\r\n
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Lindsay Utz,
Lindsay Utz
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Kelly Che
Kelly Che
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Apr 29, 2007

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-2FCP7NAd8Kim Jong Il is a mysterious dictator. He's alleged to have uttered only one sentence in public, and keeps his hermit kingdom under a veil of megalomaniac lore that manages every aspect of public perception-down to the story of his birth. The truth became murky sometime in the 1980s, when Kim began publicizing a new, more illustrious version. He switched his birth date from 1941 to 1942, making him the same age for two years straight. Then he built a log cabin on the highest mountain in North Korea, proclaiming it his official birthplace and offering guided tours. Which one is real? Try a choose-your-own-birth for the modern dictator.

factsdictatorkim jong ilmythelections and politics

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